Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who have collaborated frequently throughout their careers, announced their new film production company that promises to share profits with creative talent.
According to The New York Times, the two Hollywood stars, who are notably long-time friends, are launching Artists Equity, an independent studio that wants to ensure that entire creative teams are rewarded for a project's success. $100 million of its initial budget comes from the investment firm RedBird Capital Partners, while the two founders also committed an undisclosed amount of capital out of their own pockets.
Affleck, who will reportedly reprise his version of Batman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, will serve Artists Equity as chief executive, while Damon, whose Oppenheimer is expected in July 2023, will carry the title of chief creative officer. Going forward, Damon will produce for the new company only and star in an unspecified number of films. In contrast, Affleck will work exclusively for Artists Equity. "This is the next act of my career for a long, long time," he clarified.
Artists Equity's Goal
However, the company's primary purpose will not be to showcase the talent of its creators, who have collaborated on several projects since 1992's sociological sports drama School Ties. The duo noted that the goal of Artists Equity is to shine a light on the talent that is often overlooked when movie paychecks are handed out. The studio will share profits with workers that are involved either in front or behind the camera. "As streamers have proliferated, they have really ended back-end participation, and so this is partly an effort to try to recapture some of that value and share it in a way that's more equitable," Affleck explains, pointing out that he is not only talking about the most visible kind of talent. "Not just writers and directors and stars. But also cinematographers, editors, costume designers and other crucial artists who, in my view, are very underpaid."
The new company is expected to hit the ground running. Three films are scheduled to be released in 2023, with a goal of five per year after that. The first project has already wrapped: An as-yet-untitled film about the salesman who convinced Michael Jordan to team with Nike in the 1980s, resulting in Air Jordans. Affleck and Damon both star, with the former also serving as a producer.
Artists Equity is not the first Hollywood production company founded by a creative talent to secure greater artistic freedom and bigger financial gains. In 1919, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith founded United Artists with similar aspirations. After a tumultuous company history, UA is now owned by Amazon Studios.4
Source: The New York Times